Top 6 Murder Capitals of Texas in 2017

According to CNN.com, murders in large cities and urban centers were significantly up during the first half of 2017 -- nearly 3,000 more people that the first half of 2016. Although the numbers haven't been compiled for the latter half of 2017, that trend more than likely continued, making it a good indicator for the overall year.

CNN ranked the top 62 cities in America in a slideshow. To save you the endless clicks, here is every major Texas city/urban center's rank by murder per capita.

6. Austin: 1.2 people were murdered per 100,000 during the first half of 2017

5. El Paso: 1.9 people murdered per 100,000

4. San Antonio: 4.1 people murdered per 100,000

3. Fort Worth: 4.6 people murdered per 100,000

2. Houston: 5.6 people murdered per 100,000

1. Dallas: 6.3 people murdered per 100,000

Dallas was by far the deadliest Texas city so far this year, and was ranked the 25th most deadly city in the country. The most murders per capita in the nation for 2017 is St. Louis, Missouri.

Sadly, if small Texas towns had been included, the most murders per capita list surely would have included Sutherland Springs. The terrible shooting spree there in November killed 26 people in a town of only 600 people; which would make the murder rate an astronomical 4,333 people murdered per 100,000. Obviously, this is an outlier and does not indicate a trend, whereas data on large city centers can be a good metric for overall crime rates.